HOG Magazine Digital Disruption

Harley-Davidson is unleashing the next wave of innovation.

The HOG® Magazine is a perfect-bound magazine published 5 times a year and mailed directly to the members of the Harley Owners Group® (H.O.G.®) as part of their membership package.  The magazine features product information, riding stories, and photographs as well as in-depth stories about motorcycle travels around the world on a Harley-Davidson motorcycle.

There are a number of good reasons to become a HOG member if you’ve made the commitment to ride a Harley-Davidson motorcycle.  If you’re already a member then you just got a FREE bonus.

I’m talking about the tablet edition of the HOG Magazine.  The tablet edition contains all the same content as the print edition, plus digital-only content such as expanded photo galleries, interactive web links and more.  You can get more information HERE or go directly to iTunes HERE and download the app.

There is no charge for current full and full life members.  The app is included as part of your membership benefits and you don’t need a new account or password for the Apple App Store.  You can use your existing iTunes account credentials to install Newsstand and download the HOG magazine app.

I downloaded the app to an iPad mini this week and the magazine content came to life.  The photo’s pop and it’s easy to navigate the various articles.  I really liked the ability to click on a link and get expanded information from the article.  I suspect there will be a lot more interactive content in future articles such as video and audio.

Enjoy.

Photo courtesy of H-D and HOG.

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The Devils Ride – Twenty Feet From Stardom

In case you missed it, it might have been the untold story of the cast on the TV series called The Devils Ride.

Sure the actors members of the Laffing Devils outlaw motorcycle club have an appearance that is designed to intimidate the general motorcycling community… what with those glove-free hands, unwashed Levi’s, well-used black t-shirts and conditioned leather vests.

The Devils Ride, which started out as a reality TV show centered on the hard-hitting San Diego biker club drama, has really settled into its soapy role.  Each episode is dumb-and-dumber as the audience is told numerous times about what just happened, as if 6-minutes of commercials made us forget that the script and actors are the shows weak spot.

But, the big reveal on this Oscar weekend is this newly uncovered “second-team” of stand-ins performing (HERE).  Could it be the stand-in actors from the TV show?   We know that stand-ins are the unsung heroes of movie making and are picked based on height and body shape similar to the stars of the show.  Stand-ins are helpful to the production process and you’ll notice in the video they fulfilled a rather tedious task in a bar scene which has yet to air on the TV show.

This video is either poetic justice or a bit of karmic retribution from all us viewers who have no time for mediocre and who believe a baseball cap should be worn in the direction that your life is traveling!

As Ringo Star said in the movie “Hard Day’s Night” when ask “Are you a Mod or Rocker?” he replied “I’m a Mocker!”

And guilty I am.

Photo courtesy of College Humor.

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Motorcycle Fashion’s Night Out

No one can deny the huge impact that the American motorcycle and biker sub-culture has had on the fashion industry.

Motorcyclists spend a great deal of money and effort to find protective gear that looks fashionably good, but there is a small minority who tarnish the sport.  You know the type…  stick-on bunny ears on the helmet or the camouflage trousers and the faux Mohawk that should’ve stayed with the 90’s punk bands.

I’ve been on a clothing hiatus for a while, but back in 2009, I blogged at length about motorcycle fashions with… Limited Edition Clothing; Motorcycle Style; Dressed For Summer and the FXRG Jacket Road Test.  For all the hype fashion gets, it’s truly irrelevant and a way for the untalented to stand out.  Because if you’re talented, it’s what’s on the inside that counts, right?!

This week my friends over at Bennetts provided me an interesting visual graphic on the Evolution of Motorcycle Fashion & Clothing.  Check it out HERE and take a tour through motorcycle clothing history.  Who knows, it might even help you distinguish between clothing features that are pure fashion and those that have some genuine protective merit.

If however, you wake up in the morning with the desire to stick on a Mohawk or those bunny ears then it’s probably best that you hand over your motorcycle keys because you are about to make a motorcycle fashion faux pas.

Photo courtesy of www.bennetts.co.uk

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The Devils Ride Gets No Respect

I’m not talking about the comedic belligerent loser, Rodney Dangerfield, who penned It’s Not Easy Bein’ Me: A Lifetime of No Respect but Plenty of Sex and Drugs.

Rather my reference is about the TV show called The Devils Ride… which gets no respect.  You may remember it as a TV show with an ambitious teaser ad, but was instead a jaw-doppingly dis-functional motorcycle club (MC) reality train wreck that most bikers have no respect.  It’s a TV show about what happens when you take a testosterone supplement and ride a motorcycle.

To be fair, maybe you’re one of the few who have waited all winter for the MC “reality” series to return and lucky for you it does for a second season in just a couple of days.  Premiering Monday, Feb. 18 at 10 p.m., the new season of The Devils Ride will follow the DAGO biker “war” as it gets EVEN bigger and deeper.  As if that’s really possible!

The San Diego-based Laffing Devils Motorcycle Club (LDMC), was once a growing club.  The boyz got into a tiff over something that no one can remember and split into two separate clubs. Now in the second season viewers will get a sensory overload of club members going head-to-head with the rival club, Sinister Mob (or Sin Mob).  The 2nd season promo states that the Laffing Devils’ leadership is in turmoil: founding member “Danny Boy” and “Sandman” are butting heads not to mention Sandman’s off camera legal trouble with the ex-wife and the original founder, “Gipsy” is missing in action.  Maybe because he also has his own set of off-camera legal issues with a minor.  Meanwhile, “White Boi” — recently released from prison — is causing ripples among the club members.  Yawn.

Anytime a television show is promoted for being hard hitting or “smart,” someone’s laughing all the way to the bank — some company called, Discovery Channel and Bischoff Hervey Entertainment.

This is garbage TV.

Let me tell you how I really feel.  All you have to do is take a couple steps back and you’ll quickly realize that we’re looking at blended baby food made out of corn syrup. It’s just a blob of tasteless, high-calorie paste that will work well with the LIPITOR ads.  And the Discovery Channel medium dispenses the paste to people who can’t feed back, can’t change it, who only get it in 17-minute bite-sized chunks interrupted by 14-minutes of commercials.  It’s written by a team of writers who all have one thing in common: They’re not allowed to say whatever they’re thinking! They’re not allowed. We’re definitely not getting motorcycle club insight or truths; we’re getting lies and acting so heinous they should issue a police ticket.

You might disagree and call me out for not being a credible TV critic.  To be one, I’d have to write a 50-page review of each episode which would take longer to read than it does watch the show, while espousing in a pseudo-intellectual way, the show details so that the masses can talk about it over a latte at the water cooler with their new devil horned t-shirts.

The conversation we’re not having is: there’s a couple hundred million of us watching an average of six hours of TV a day… a one-way transmission that only tells us we have a lot of physical and mental ailments… there’s 5-hour energy drinks to perk us up, Lunesta to put us to sleep and our clothes will look brighter with Tide detergent as we recline in the lounger to watch the TV show.  The one conversation no one is having, not a single one of us is having is a debate about whether or not liking The Devils Ride makes us smart or stupid.

It’s my judgment that the show is a full-on assault of our intelligence by “actors” who have taken a faux role way too serious.  It should be noted that the crap troop breeding this ignorance is executive producers Eric Bischoff, Jason Hervey and Steve Stockman along with Discovery’s David Pritikin.

I will say props for riding some some nice motorcycles!

Photo courtesy of Discovery Channel and Bischoff Hervey Entertainment.

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Lane-Splitting Is An Acquired Skill

Some automobile drivers see motorcyclists as obnoxious and borderline cheaters as they cut and weave through slow freeway traffic to get ahead of others.

The practice is called lane-splitting and only in California has it always been legal, however, state authorities have never told motorcyclists how best to maneuver between heavy and slow moving traffic safely.

Until now…  you can read the complete lane-splitting regulations HERE.  The new rules, which the CHP introduced in January after consulting with other state agencies and motorcycle-rider groups, apply to city streets, highways and freeways across the state.

I wonder if we’ll be seeing intermediate and advance lane-splitting courses in the future?

I’ve blogged previously about the possibility of lane splitting in Oregon HERE.

Photo courtesy of Noah Berger.

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Is It Time?

Today’s youth, particularly texting teenagers and web savvy 20-somethings know that the time is posted everywhere; on radios, ovens, microwaves, banks, train stations, street corners and the ever important — cell phone.

All of this makes it difficult to make the case for the need of a traditional wristwatch let alone a time keeping device favored in the era of pocket watch-wearers.

Fortunately Oregonian Ron Lattner, a retired motorcyclist has made a hobby out of crafting custom Wooden Pocket Watches and incorporated designs that any motorcycle enthusiast can appreciate.  He has hand-crafted designs which incorporate a V-Twin engine design, one for a Fallen Biker and several with military designs.  His designs can be found HERE.

Mr. Lattner reached out to me to post some information on the watches and as a fellow biker I was happy to do so.

They are hand-turned from a variety of woods and match the kind of elegance, style and mood you might have in mind.  There is something mystic about a hand-crafted and well-made pocket watch that plays to different crowd than the smartphone.  It’s more than an accessory… it’s between an object of art, of value or giving from one generation to another.

Check out these classics.

Photo’s courtesy of Mr. Lattner.

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Deer Strikes

Everyone has a deer story, right?

And no matter how accomplished a rider you might be, a deer dashing back and forth across the road is at minimum nerve wracking or much worst if it includes a deer-vehicle confrontation.

Since 2007, State Farm has compiled a record of the collisions between its customers and deer, and it has used that data to estimate the likelihood of drivers around the country being involved in such an incident.

The total number of vehicle-deer collisions in the U.S. in the last reported year was 1,231,710.  And given that not everyone reports a deer strike, and not every driver is insured – the true numbers are probably much higher!

Between July 1, 2011, and June 30, 2012, Pennsylvania motorists hit more deer than drivers in any other states: an estimated 115,571. The rest of the top five: Michigan, 97,856; New York, 80,262; Ohio, 67,699; Wisconsin 52,525.  You’re more likely to hit a deer in the fall. And on any given day in November, a collision with a deer is three times more likely than on any day from February through August.

The five most dangerous states account for 34 percent of all deer-vehicle collisions.  The fewest car-deer collisions are in: Hawaii, 134; Washington, D.C., 495; Nevada, 1184; Alaska, 1253; Rhode Island, 2000.

According to the NHTSA about two percent of car-deer collisions and 1.3 percent of truck-deer collisions result in human injuries.  I don’t have the stats, but am certain that a large percentage of bikers who hit a deer take an ambulance ride.

Photo courtesy of State Farm.

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